My first ever 8hands music recommendation will have to be Toronto's Rock Plaza Central. They had one of the best albums of 2006 – "Are We Not Horses" maybe came out without a label behind him and hardly with any promotion, but anyone who heard it was blown away (and thanks to blogs, social networks & file sharing apps, it touched many people).

"Are We Not Horses" is a concept album about six legged steel horses that were created by humans to fight angels or something like that. I know it sounds silly, but Chris Eaton, the writer & singer of RPC is a gifted lyricist that makes it work (he is also an author, but I didn't read anything by him yet).

I won't spoil it for you and tell you how the album ends, though I can honestly say I whipped for hours because of that story. But never mind the concept - musically the album is brilliant: think of a high natural milk hotel influences, mix folk, indie-rock & balkan, add lots of instruments, and top it all with the witty lyrics of Eaton.

I can continue with the compliments, but I'd rather ask Chris Eaton a couple of questions (most of them are about social networks, because we want to please our octopus god).

What have you been working on since "Are We Not Horses"?

"Trying to stay sane, mostly. Once the reviews started coming in, the record kind of took over my life. Whereas I had been working a lot to save money so I could finish off my new novel, I was suddenly trying to find a proper home for the record (we initially just released it ourselves) and talking to a lot of interviewers and basically trying to make sure anyone who wanted a CD was sent one in the mail. We also played a lot. And I’m hoping soon I can finish the book and also start writing material for a new CD. But it’s hard when you’re also the band manager, booking agent, etc".

What's your use in social networks?

"You mean MySpace and stuff like that? We have a MySpace band page. And I have a personal page that I never use. But I’m afraid of Facebook because everyone I know is so addicted to it, and I’d almost certainly be in there with them. Something I don’t have time for. We have songs on last.fm, too, but that takes very little effort on my part".

Do you think that networks like MySpace / imeem / last.fm helped you to achieve recognition?

"Certainly. They all let people check a few songs out and discover if they like bands before they go out and buy a cd. Or torrent it or whatever. It means people don’t have to rely on reviews but can use them as a hint to try something new. The Internet, even with the 30-40 thousand times the record has been downloaded “illegally”, has been very good to us. To some degree, we need people to support us so we can afford to make another one, but it’s also amazing that so many people out there have it and love it".

Do you find new music online?

"Sometimes. Although I haven’t had the luxury in a while. I became MySpace friends with Beirut a long time before his music actually found a home and then became so huge. And I’ve discovered a lot of bands from France that I like".

What would you do if you had eight hands?

"Why stop at eight? I need the full 15".